


Pas de Deux

by Kuukai12



Category: Miraculous Ladybug
Genre: Ballet AU, F/M, I just need to start writing again, I promise it gets better, Multi, Some Chloe/Kim in here too, Soon to get interesting, first fic in a long time, i'm trash, woot woot
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-02-19
Updated: 2016-03-28
Packaged: 2018-05-21 15:30:32
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 3,745
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6056770
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Kuukai12/pseuds/Kuukai12
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>A crescendo of worries took her by the hand and lifted her on the wings of fear. A dissonance of every day struggles kept him from moving the way he wanted to. Two lives crashing together in such a beautiful and disorderly fashion was bound to cause some question to the people around them. Yet, they will fight it together with consequence in a beautiful dance for two. Ballet AU</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Epilogue

**Author's Note:**

> I am so excited to say that this is my first work on this website and I have been dying to publish a story like this. I had help from my marvelous friend to get this idea off of the ground and I only hope to do it justice. Enjoy!

It was regarded as one of the most prestigious dance schools in all of France. Dancers from all parts of the country and all parts of the world struggled, practiced and worked so hard to get a taste of the audition room. But for the amount of time it took them to get there; it only took seconds for their dreams to get crushed. It was highly competitive, incredibly stressful and there was no way that anyone who didn’t conform to the judges standards would make it past the linoleum of that small room.

Yet somehow she ended up in the exact place she never thought she’d be.

Marinette stared up, wide eyes taking in every gold curved letter of the tall building as her hand clutched the strap of the large duffle across her chest. _Académie Royale de Danse._ It was here where dancers were molded into the best of the best or where already magnificent dancers were made into untouchable gold centerpieces of the dance world. The program itself was shut down sometime in the 1700’s but after a lot of thought, time and money, it was re-opened with much fervor being expressed from majority of the public. Unfortunately, she wasn’t there to dance. She didn’t even bother trying this round of auditions, against the wishes of Alya who made sure the girl understood she was an incredible dancer. No, she was there to do something else she loved.

Alya had some close connections within the program and mentioned on several occasions to the head seamstress that she knew someone who could help with the hefty workload of sewing costumes for shows. It was then that Marinette was dragged into something she couldn’t even comprehend. Checking herself over once more, she made sure she was fully ready and then headed up the steps and into the building before her. The doors resounded with a loud squeak and she eagerly hoped that no one was just sitting in the lobby. What an embarrassing first meeting that would be. The woman at the counter glanced up very briefly as she walked up to it and gave her a slip of paper, nodding the large auditorium across the way. It was finally time. With a grateful yet nervous smile, Marinette took the slip and walked over to the doors, inhaling as she pressed sweaty palms against the wood.

…

It couldn’t have been any quieter. It was so quiet that she thought, for a quick moment, perhaps she had walked into the wrong room. But all those thoughts disappeared as her eyes glanced over to the almost statuette’s on the stage. A series of gleams invaded her sight as a beautifully poised woman held an en pointe attitude on the stage, hand placed gently on a much taller, much buffer male whose eyes seemed only for her. Marinette stood frozen as the blonde turned her head ever so slightly and gave a confident smirk before the music started up again and the people on the stage returned to their practice.

A familiar hand clasped the young seamstresses shoulder and Marinette jumped, whipping around to face an overly enthusiastic Alya. “They’re good, aren’t they?” She started, her smile bunching her cheeks up to her eyes, “But they aren’t quite as good as you.”

“Alya, I told yo-“

“So anyways, welcome Marinette!” A groan passed her lips before she was whisked down the centre isle.

There seemed to be many more people than she’d thought. About 20 dancers lit the stage, fluttering about as Chopin’s ‘Nocturne Opening No. 2’ filled the once silent room. Watching them was absolutely breathtaking. Not one move, turn, or leap looked unrefined. They all moved with such finesse and grace and she could see how they all made it into this company.

Her eyes followed and she found herself slipping into a daydream before a loud clap resounded from the apron of the stage. Suddenly her blue orbs flew to the source and that was when she saw him. Gabriel Agreste himself with a tight lipped frown and the stature of a professional stood unmoving as he analyzed the dancers. This was _the_ Gabriel Agreste, new owner of the _Académie Royale de Danse_ and world renowned danseur noble. If her knuckles could have turned any whiter from the death grip on her bag, they would. Alya wasted no time for the momentary break the dancers had as she moved the two of them closer to the répétiteur. Before she could protest, Marinette was suddenly face to face with the unexcitable man.

“Mr. Agreste, this is Marinette, the new assistant for Ms. Maxi.”

With a sudden gasp, she bowed hurriedly and kept her hands close to her chest. “My name is Marinette Dupain-Cheng! Pleasure to meet you, Mr. Agreste!”

He spared her a solemn glance before turning to Alya. “Are you certain this is the new assistant? 

His tone implied that he was less than satisfied with what he was given and she was thoroughly confused. What was wrong? Looking down for a second, she analyzed herself. A simple pencil skirt accompanied with a tucked in white blouse and kitten heels. Her hair was tied in its signature twin ponytails and she had actually made an effort to look professional for today. Did she look that bad…?

Alya paused for a moment, eyes slightly enlarged before rubbing the back of her neck and letting out a sheepish chuckle, “Yes sir, I am absolutely certain! My girl here is the best of the best with what she does and she will not disappoint you!”

Before he could get another word out edge wise, a loud and eccentric laugh floated through the room. The trio and dancers across the stage turned to the noise and watched as an overly decorated, overstimulating woman shuffled her way from the backstage and onto the audience floor. Brightly coloured hair of red and blue tones blurred past everyone’s vision and landed in front of Gabriel as her stiletto’s made a final _clack_ on the tile. With one flippant hand, she patted the man on the shoulder and moved him aside, eyes laying on the girl before her.

“You must be my new assistant, correct? Oh my word how I have been so excited to meet you! Don’t let Gabriel here scare you away too much. He just always has that frown plastered on his little face.”  Her eyes took in every single bit of her new protégé as she started to circle her. “But my goodness dear, _what_ are you wearing? This is a job where you must be willing to move freely about without any restrictions, not some monotonous desk job! Have some freedom, I’ll allow it.” She finally finished her circling and paused in front of the girl, leaning forward slightly and raising a brow. “But how old are you, dear? 21? 22?”

With a quiet squeak, Marinette tilted her head down slightly and pursed her lips, “19, ma’am.”

“19?! Goodness, looking like you do, one would think you’re a mature old woman. We can’t have that here. You’re about the same age as the rest of these children, embrace it more!” The woman snaked her arm around the other’s shoulders and was about to lead her away to the back when the doors to the auditorium opened once more.

“Adrien, you are late.”

This so called ‘Adrien’ walked in and moved with such a delicate haste that anyone would’ve thought he did this often. As he approached his father, he gave a quick grin to Alya and Ms. Maxi before settling on the woman her arms were tightly wound around. He seemed to ignore his father momentarily as a trained smile tugged at his lips and he fixed his eyes on her. With a voice as smooth as honey, he extended his hand, “You must be the new assistant I have been hearing about. It’s a pleasure to meet you.”


	2. An Interesting Scene

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'd personally like to apologize for taking over a month to get this chapter out. I had an immensely hard time mid-chapter due to writers block and there was just no way I was able to do anything. I'd also like to personally apologize as I am still new at writing movement scenes and a lot of them were written at night.

_A pleasure._

 

It most definitely was a pleasure. Anytime a new face had shown itself within the presence of the dance company, it was like a breath of fresh air; although it was hardly anything to get used to. Adrien had seen it all. Many people had claimed or had been bestowed the title of ‘assistant’ to Shah Maxi and his father, but it always ended the same.

They simply weren’t good enough for the man. Of course Maxi had her favourite picks and a lot of the people that were let go were some of the closest to her, but if it didn’t settle with Gabriel, it just wasn’t going to be. He had quite a say in how these matters went and if they even remotely looked at him wrong, they were gone.

Adrien distinctly remembered a girl with an abrasive and impulsive attitude that worked alongside their seamstress. She was often one to quickly march onto stage during rehearsal, pink hair barely catching up, and yanking lose threads off of bodice’s and skirts if they were out of place. It was only fair that she was given so many warnings, often unheeded, before she was kicked out. If he remembered correctly, she went by Alix. A rambunctious skater who admired the great Shah Maxi so much she started to look like her. She was one of his great friends.

Thinking about all of those he had made friends with in the past only made the trained smile on his lips harder to maintain as he stared down at the girl. She looked so full of hope and had excitement barely contained behind her blue eyes; it almost made him sad. He wondered, briefly, how long she would last for. If they weren’t dancing, they weren’t as valuable as the ones who were. He gave her a week at the most, although he definitely didn’t want to.

In a quick instant, his gaze was turned from the new girl in front of him, to the shrill and over the top danseuse who flung herself rather ungracefully from the stage into his arms. Her blonde locks floated behind her and Adrien rushed to set down his bag in order to grab the eccentric woman before she crashed to the ground. Her slim fingers grasped his shoulders firmly and she wrapped one extended leg around his waist as his hands were placed on hers and the other leg was extended. In the eyes of others, it was a rather beautiful capture. In his, it was an accident well avoided.

“Oh Adrien~” Chloe cooed, her painted face twisting into adoration, “I knew you would catch me~ You always do!”

She spent the next few moments clinging to him before Alya cleared her throat and motioned to Marinette, ending the scene as Adrien awkwardly set her down. His father caught his eye momentarily and he knew what it meant. That little show was to be blamed on him and no one else and he should quickly gather his things and go to where he was supposed to be. It was always like that. His eyes glanced back to the new girl and he noticed her fidgeting slightly with the strap on her bag before looking up to see him again. Oh yeah, she wouldn’t last very long.

The silence extended throughout the room before a booming clap brought everyone back from whatever daze they were in.

“Alright, enough with this. Adrien, get to the piano. Madam Maxi, you and your assistant may now leave. There is no need for you to currently be here and we need to get back to our rehearsals.” The edge in his voice made everyone on the stage hurry to their positions and even rushed the blonde back into her wits. Adrien, however, took his time moving to the piano as he bid Marinette goodbye a rather somber nod of the head. As he took to the white grand, his fingers brushed against the curves of the wood as if it would break if he pressed any harder. It seemed the only thing that would never disappoint him was this.

                                                                                                                                       ~~~

Red, blue, fuchsia, turquoise…

All of the colours of threads and tutu’s started to blend together as Marinette struggled to find the small pair of scissors that fell into the box of costumes she was working with. It had only taken her 3 hours to finally lose a little bit of focus so much to actually misplace one of her tools. Shah Maxi had informed her that the old dusty box was filled with ensembles from prior shows that needed to be ripped apart and repurposed. Something or another about saving money on fabric even though Monsieur Gabriel had plenty of it to spare? She could no longer tell, the words seemed to mix in between direction and complaining. There was nothing to be bothered about, though, as the bright and busy woman added a little extra fun in the young girl’s life.

But that didn’t mean that she particularly enjoyed being waist deep in the massive chest to look for her thread snippers. Blue eyes darted around the dark space as one hand held back fabrics and the other felt blindly for those beloved scissors before the door opened to the room she was in. A familiar hand lightly touched her back and, with a startled gasp, Marinette flung herself up and hit her head against the walls of the box with a thud before a cackle helped her back into her senses. Her boss stood there with her arms folded rather tightly over her stomach, hunched over only slightly and rubbed the beading tears from the corners of her eyes.

“Oh Marinette,” Shah started, voice dripping with amusement, “I wasn’t aware you were looking so deeply down the rabbit hole. If you wanted to leave, the door is right behind you.” Her long fingers curled and found themselves directed behind the two, lingering for only a moment. The young woman sighed and stood up, dropping a few pants and skirts by their feet. The room had gotten considerably darker as the light outside of the multiple mirrors had faded into a dusty yellow. The old practice room, now a storage and repairing facility, seemed rather dreamlike in its dim state even with sewing machines and scattered boxes hugging it’s every corner.

Rubbing the back of her neck and fixing her shirt, Marinette chuckled slightly before glancing at the fabrics in her hands. “Sorry Ms. Maxi. I was looking for my thread scissors. I was repairing this gown when I dropped them in the box and I can’t seem to find them.” It was embarrassing to think that on her first day, she managed to waste a good half an hour digging around looking for something she shouldn’t have lost. Holding her breath as she waited for a scolding, she briefly wondered if there was another pair she could have just grabbed and continued her work.

“It’s perfectly fine!”

Marinette released her breath and stared up at her boss with bemusement twisting her features. That was definitely not expected.

“I have an extra pair in my bag but, do you really need them now? It’s 5:30. Everyone already went home. I was coming to check and see if you were still here. Alya mentioned something or another about you losing track of time easily. Doesn’t seem like she was wrong!”

Alya would say that. The other woman was rather open about her thoughts and tended to mention unnecessary things here and there. It was no wonder she didn’t tell Shah Maxi about…

“Anyways,” the older female began, smile tugging at the edges of her lips, “I’m heading out. Take your time cleaning up or doing whatever you need to and I will see you here tomorrow morning bright and early! 10 a.m. sharp, missy!”  
She waved a flippant hand and exited the room without another glance back. Marinette gave it a few minutes before rushing to her bag and out the door. She would clean up tomorrow morning before everyone arrived. Right now, though, there was something else to take care of.

                                                                                                                                 ~~~

Adrien had every intention of leaving when everyone else did.

As much as the piano called to him, playing when his father told him to just didn’t bring as much pleasure as when he played in his own time. It didn’t help, either, that Chloe would constantly stop rehearsals or take breaks just to join him at his station and distract him. She was a friend but when it was time to practice, he preferred to be on his own in his little world. All in all, rehearsals were a pain and he really enjoyed when they were over. Sometimes he’d freely play, sometimes he’d get swept off by his good friend Nino for some much needed relaxation and other times…

But today was slightly different.

No matter how many times he paced in the lobby or managed to move his way to the steps out front, he just could not leave. It was rather annoying, to be completely honest. Practice ended nearly 25 minutes ago and he had spent all of this time debating whether or not he should go home. With an irritated sigh, he decided that maybe he would go back to the auditorium and play freely. Get out all the pent up whatever he was feeling and then go back to the house. He flipped open his phone and his fingers dashed across the letters, letting Nathalie know he’d be home later and that he was out with his friends. Maybe that would make it easier on the both of them.

He pressed send and walked with haste back in through the lobby and to the grand entrance of the theatre. But before he could open the doors, he stopped. Delicate muffled notes floated from underneath the door and into his ears. Was someone still here? He pressed his palms to the wood, giving it a light push and sneaking very slowly into the room. Thanking the heavens for a quick moment that it didn’t give way to weight this time and made his presence known. If it was Chloe that came back to practice, he would have much rather preferred his being not there.

However it was not the blonde danseuse that occupied the space of the stage but rather the new assistant he had met earlier on in the day. Marinette, he believed her name was.

She seemed to fumble with the old cd player that sat on the stool at the edge of the stage. Her lips twisted and pursed before finally getting it on the right song and place she needed it to be. Yet that was not what surprised him the most. Her professional get up she wore earlier on was now replaced with a simple black cross-backed leotard and a black knee length chiffon skirt. She looked prepared for a dance class and he wondered if she was perhaps inspired by the dancers she saw in the day?

That thought quickly ended when his green gaze fell upon the scraped up and dirty Gaynor Minden pointe shoes that engulfed her feet. Those were not a cheap pair of shoes, much less ones that just any beginner or amateur dancer would have. If he recalled correctly as well, the company did not quite get a shipment of those in just yet.  
He hid behind the last row of seats near the door still. Did he want to confront her and tell her she should be at home or did he want to watch and see what she would do? Before he had the chance to answer his own question, Chopin’s Scherzo No. 2 in B Flat Minor filled the air. Marinette quickly moved from the player to centre stage again and extended her body. The right leg was perfectly out turned and crossed over the left as her right arm outstretched just enough and her right arm lifted delicately above her head. Starting out in a croise devant.

The first two beats of the song allowed the woman just enough time to get in that position but as the initial start of the piano rang throughout the auditorium, she was up and on her toes in a quick fourth position pointe. He watched as her lithe body moved across the stage. It twisted and turned and the more she got into it, the more he got into her. This woman had painted herself as a simple assistant interested in helping the company with costumes; but there was so much more to her.

Adrien never realized that he was gradually making his way towards the stage. He never realized that is entire being craved to see this person dance more, to see her sway more. She seemed to enjoy the song as her movements were more than just the usual mechanics he saw on everyone else. Her eyes were shut and her limbs were languid and enticing and he wanted to be up there with her, to accompany her in a pas de deux. He wanted to feel whatever it was that she was feeling because the emotions were coming off in waves and it was just that beautiful.

The crescendo of the song lifted her up more and he watched as her relaxed face twisted into an indescribable melancholy. She prepped herself for what seemed as if it was going to be a Kitri grand jete, body stiffening more than usual. Adrien could’ve crawled to the stage just to see how she would execute it. The room seemed non-existent now as Marinette chassed and took to the skies. A brief moment would pass as her radiant form collapsed and crumpled to the ground like a bird falling from flight.

The dancer hit the stage with a large thud, a strangled sob and closed in on herself. Adrien, on the other hand, could not figure out what had just happened. One minute she was dancing as if gravity did not exist and now, she was hunched over on the stage. There was no processing what had just happened, he needed to help her in case she was injured.

He was about to rush forward to her when she lifted her head and spotted him with those ocean eyes wide. Confusion took over that voice and he stopped dead in his tracks.

“….Adrien…?”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Welp. I warned you. 
> 
> I also wanted to say that I have a tumblr! It's not much but it's something!
> 
> Tumblr: petitbiquet.tumblr.com
> 
> Grand Jete: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=svDqNMK48IE
> 
> Chopin's Scherzo No. 2: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z_MwPdr7WXQ
> 
> Different version of the Croise Devant: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O3Lzc70C-V8

**Author's Note:**

> Wow okay so this was a fun doozy and I really hope you all enjoyed! I chose to use the French meanings instead of Ballerina and Ballerino, which is what dansuer and dansuese are! I promise things will get better as it goes. ^_^ So yeah! Thank you for reading and I'll see you soon!
> 
> Comments? Questions?


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